Short hops and hard knocks with Red Sox beat writer Ian Browne.

Hill making an impression for next year

The Red Sox are in, what is for them, the rare position of being able to audition players for next year. Such is the case when postseason hopes consist of a mathematical miracle.

One veteran who could stick is lefty Rich Hill, the pride of Milton, Mass. Hill has looked good both times manager Terry Francona has called on him.

“Encouraging,” Francona said. “There’s a lot there to like. There’s some depiction. Probably some of the reason there’s deception is probably the reason he’s having trouble commanding at times. So, this is kind of a free three weeks. I don’t’ mean free, but you know what I’m saying. There’s a little bit of a — not extended look — but more than we would have had if we just brought him to Spring Training. So hopefully he’ll get chance with [pitching coach] John [Farrell] and get like a head start on where he’s at, where it could go, because consistency going to be big. Because there’s some things I like. If you’re a left-handed hitter, it doesn’t look real comfortable.”

A starting pitcher before undergoing surgery last May, Francona thinks that Hill has the stuff to make the transition to lefty reliever.

“Well when you look at the delivery and the breaking ball you certainly think that,” Francona said. “But again you have to throw strikes. We’ve been bringing in [Dustin] Richardson in some of those situations and when you walk somebody it doesn’t really help. And that’s probably a lot to ask with Richardson.”

I hope as well that Hill gets it done. Sox do well tapping into their farm system. I wish we still had Masterson. A long term pitching arm for a short term deal with V-Mart. I’m not sure I see the logic in this. Masterson could have been the anchor in the pen the Sox needed this year. He’s also a level headed person who can handle the crazy atmosphere of Boston.
I would like to see Papi gone next year. He’s too limiting and too arrogant to deal with issues like hitting to the opposite field and bunting. I would also like to see Drew unloaded. The man is a walking hospital ward.

My heart goes out to Colvin of the Cubs as well. Terrible ordeal. That was scary. These stupid maple bats need to go. What would help is NOT having the bats so honed down to pencil points.
Second, switch to a less shattering wood. Maple is so brutally hard it shatters…I do woodworking so I know what I’m talking about. Oak also does the same issue. Cherry is too soft. Too bad we can’t go back to ASH but the Ash bore took care of that. Perhaps we could try birch or beech. Beech especially doesn’t shatter but its also a softer wood and wouldn’t have that pop of the bat.

Dice-K actually didn’t pitch as bad as the linescore indicates. Dice-K should not have started the 7th. Bard let the 2 inherited runners score. If the Sox couldn’t beat a sub 500 team and scored only 2 runs off a pitcher whose ERA is above 4, the Sox earned a right to watch the playoffs comfortably at home like we do.
The Oreos is a different team under Buck Showalter.

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